Crime and Punishment #22

Charles Biro's cover for this January 1950 issue drops readers right onto a subway platform at Bronx Park's 180th Street station, where a desperate gunman crouches on the tracks, deafened by his own shots and oblivious to the oncoming train — while his nervous accomplice "Denny" hesitates at the deadly third rail and two police officers close in fast. The scene crackles with authentic urban tension, perfectly suited to the book's promise of "True Criminal Case Histories." At a full 52 pages for just a dime, this issue from Lev Gleason Publications packs in stories like "The Reckus Brothers: Public Enemies #1 and #1½," "Charles 'Lucky' Ward — The Lone Wolf of Diamonds," and more.